Garment-vent clamp



Dec. 8, 1970 P, GOODMAN 3,545,052

GARMENT-VENT CLAMP Filed Feb. 18. 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet =1 INVENTOR WALTER P. GOODMAN BY W ATTORNEY Dec. 8, 1970 Filed Feb. l8. 1969 2 Sheets-Shet 2 34 21 .1'42 7 --z Q 2 l7 5 6 32] 9 24 i Q ====1.4 43 1 [I 5 INVENTOR WALTER D. GOODMAN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,545,052 GARMENT-VENT CLAMP Walter P. Goodman, New Albany, Ind., assignor to W. M.

Cissell Manufacturing Company, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Ohio Filed Feb. 18, 1969, Ser. No. 800,075 Int. Cl. A44!) 21/00; A41h /02 US. Cl. 24-252 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A clamp for closing the vent of a garment, during finishing operations on a garment finisher, having a pistolgrip type of handle for quick and convenient manipulation with portions of the clamp compactly arranged to avoid interference with bag of the finisher.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION When garments, such as mens coats having a vent in the lower rear portion, are to be finished upon conventional bag type garment finishers, it is necessary to clamp the same so as to prevent spreading of the vent during inflation of the bag. Various forms of such clamps are known, as for example the scissors type of clamp shown by Richterkessing Pat. No. 2,895,659 or the squeeze handle type of clamp shown by Jackson et al. Pat. No. 2,872,718.

The jaws of such clamps usually are biased into normal clamping position by a spring which must have sufiicient strength to hold the jaws securely against the garment, but at the same time be arranged for ready actuation without undue exertion on the part of the operator who is required to operate the clamp a large number of times during the course of a' days Work. The shape of the jaws and the arrangement of the several parts of the clamp, so that no interference with the inflated bag will occur and so that no undue stooping or extra manipulative movements on the part of the operator in attaching or detaching of the clamp will be required, present practical problems in the manufacture of such clamps. The solution of such is a purpose of the present invention.

SUMMARY The invention is embodied in a hand-operable clamp having a handle which is comfortably engageable by the palm of the hand and an actuator means Which is engageable with one or more fingers of the hand. The handle serves as a support for a floating jaw member of the clamp and the actuator means serves to move a cooperating jaw member into opened position when operated by the fingers to overcome the bias of a spring. Among the objects of the invention are the provision of an improved garment-vent clamp which can be operated without undue exertion by the user; a light-weight clamp construction having jaws equipped with facing materials adapted to hold the garment in place under the bias of a spring and without leaving marks upon the garment; a clamp construction in compact form and which extends but a short distance below the lower edge of the garment to which it is aflixed during a garment finishing opera tion; a clamp construction having tapered jaws aiding in the attachment of the clamp to and detachment of the clamp from a garment; and a clamp construction utilizing a minimum of separate fastening means in holding the functioning parts of the clamp in assembled relation.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds and when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

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FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the clamp in a typical position of use in the finishing of a garment.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the clamp with its jaws in closed position.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the clamp with its jaws in an opened position.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the clamp and to a larger scale.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the clamp and to a larger scale, and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 4.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a typical vented garment 10, such as a coat, is shown in position upon a garment finisher having an inflatable bag 11 and with the usual shoulder adjusting form 12 and sleeve inserts 13, 14 in place. The improvel clamp of the present invention is here shown in its clamping position and, as Will be noted, the lower end of the clamp extends only a relatively short distance below the lower edge of the garment.

As seen in FIGS. 2 to 6, the clamp comprises essentially a first jaw adapted for insertion inside the garment to be clamped and including a generally flat back plate 15 of elongated upwardly tapered shape and having a continuous reinforcing flange portion 16 extending along its two sides and top. Afiixed to the plate within the flange 16 is a suitable padding material 17, such as sponge rubber or polyurethane foam, the lower edge of which is disposed above the lower end of plate 15 as seen in FIG. 4. At its lower end the back plate is shaped to provide laterally extending, parallel, integral arms 18, 19, providing suitable fulcrum positions for the pivoted handle and the pivoted actuator rod now to be described.

The clamp includes a handle of pistol-grip type comprising a rolled member having an arcuate upper portion 20 comfortably fitting the palm of the hand and with continuous shoulders 21, 22 extending the length of the handle. A pin 23 in the form of a tubular rivet extending between arms 18, 19 and through corresponding holes in the shoulders 21, 22 of the lower portion of the handle serves to pivotally mount the handle. Preferably the handle is offset at its lower end in the direction of the first jaw but with an open space 24 between that jaw and lower end of the handle and within such space the lower end of the floating jaw member, later to be described, is suitably confined.

For moving the first jaw away from the handle during opening of the clamp an actuater means which conveniently may comprise a tube or rod of light-weight material is provided. This means includes a bent upper portion 30 adapted to be grasped by one or more fingers and a straight lower portion 31 the lower end of which is suitably attached to a second pin 32 in the form of a hollow tubular rivet journalled in the arms 18, 19 adjacent the distal ends of the same. Tubular spacers 32A center the actuator means on the pin 32. The straight portion 31 is supported adjacent its upper end in a bracket 33 of handle material bent outwardly from the lanced opening 34 of the handle and having a hole therein through which the portion 31 of the actuator means is adapted to reciprocate axially of the handle. Between the bracket 33 and the pin 32 the straight portion of the actuator means is surrounded by a helical compression spring 35 the ends of which abut against that bracket and that pin.

For cooperation with the described handle and first jaw a floating jaw is provided and includes a generally fiat, elongated, upwardly tapered, back plate 40 to surface of which a layer 41 of friction material, such as emery cloth, is aflixed and which is adapted to hold the garment in place when the clamp is applied thereto and the bag 11 is inflated. This floating jaw preferably includes a peripheral flange 42 for strengthening purposes and at its lower end the floating jaw includes a generally rectangular extension 43 of plate 40 into space 24 and with the sides of the extension closely approaching the arms 18, 19 as best seen in FIG. 5. Plate 40 is loosely attached to the handle by any suitable means, as for example by a twisted key 44 lanced from a portion of the plate 40 and extending through an aperture 45 in the handle as seen in FIG. 4. I

As will now be apparent, when the user grasps the handle 20 with the palm of the hand and pulls upon the actuator means 30 with the fingers the first jaw pivots about the fulcrum pin 23 and the clamp opens to the position indicated in FIG. 3; the spring 35 meanwhile being compressed and the floating jaw pivoting slightly until its extension 43 contacts the lower end of the handle within space 24. At the same time the pin 32 is free to rotate slightly as the distal ends of arms 18, 19 are lifted and no binding of the several parts can occur. For reducing friction, plastic strips 46, 47 may be interposed between the inner faces of arms 18, 19 and the parts of the handle and actuator means fulcrummed upon those arms.

With the clamp jaws in opened position the clamp may be readily attached to the garment to cover the vent as indicated in FIG. 1 and upon release of the spring pressure the jaws promptly close to bring the padding material 17 and the friction material 41 into holding contact with respective inner and outer surfaces of the garment material. The tapered shape of the clamp jaws, moreover, aids in insertion of the clamp into and removal of the same from its operating position. As will further be apparent, the lever arm between pins 23 and 32 is increased by the offset of the lower end of the handle resulting in the use of a spring requiring less exertion on the part of the user than would otherwise be required. It is a feature of the invention that the distance between the attachment of the actuator means to the arms and the attachment of the handle to the arms is greater than the distance between the attachment of the handle to the arms and the attachment of the arms to the lower end of the first jaw member.

In view of the above disclosure, it will be noted that the several objectives of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results obtained.

What is claimed is:

1. A hand-operable garment-vent clamp comprising a first jaw member, parallel arms rigidly attached to said first jaw member and extending laterally from the lower end thereof, a handle pivotally mounted at its lower end upon said arms at a first fulcrum position centrally of said arms; said handle having a palm-engageable portion at its upper end, a floating jaw member loosely attached to said handle and having an extension at its lower end disposed between said arms and adapted to dispose said jaw members in confronting relation to each other at all times, an actuator means pivotally mounted at its lower end upon said arms at a second fulcrum position adjacent the distal ends of said arms, said actuator means including a finger-engageable portion at its upper end, means supporting said actuator means upon said handle for movement relative to said handle, and spring means biasing said jaws toward each other and said finger-engageableportion of said actuator means away from the palm-engageable portion of said handle.

2. A clamp as defined in claim 1 wherein the distance between the attachment of said actuator means to said arms and the attachment of said handle to said arms is greater than the distance between the attachment of said handle to said arms and the attachment of said arms to the lower end of said first jaw member.

3. A clamp as defined in claim 1 wherein said arms comprise integral portions of said first jaw member.

4. A clamp as defined in claim 1 including a pin attached to said actuator means and rotatably mounted in said arms to provide said pivotal mounting of said actutor means.

5. A clamp as defined in claim 4 wherein said spring means comprises a compression spring having one end abutting against said pin and the other end abutting against said means supporting said actuator means upon said handle.

6. A clamp as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said first and said floating jaw members are tapered with progressively narrower widths in the direction toward the upper ends of the same.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,689,996 9/1954 Glattes 24252 2,872,718 2/1959 Jackson et a1. 24-252 2,895,659 7/1959 Richterkessing 24-252 DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

